Could We Have a Little Decorum, Please? - Nikki Lorenzini

How rude! Where have all our manners gone?

A simple thank-you when you receive something, a “bless you” when you sneeze, holding the door open for the people who are behind you. Seem like simple and easy things to do, right? So often people just let the door slam in my face when I am right behind them. Sure, I am short, but does being 5'1" make me invisible? I see people in the hallway at work, and I am lucky if I am able to get them to mutter a “hi.” I send text messages with no response to acknowledge someone received it, e-mails that go ignored, and people do not respond when I ask “Do you have anything to go downstairs?”

Granted, there are times when I live in total oblivion and come across as rude, myself. There have been times when I was in my own little world and I didn’t notice anyone behind me and I let the door shut on someone. I am now noticing more people who seem to throw their manners out the window. It seems rare that I receive thank-you cards, e-mails, or even a simple “thank you.” I couldn’t honestly tell you when the last time I wrote someone a thank-you note for a gift. Sure, I did when I had co-workers change my tire for me on New Year’s Eve, but is the thank-you note (even if it’s in e-mail form) going out of style? Or am I just being too old-fashioned and afraid of coming off as ungrateful?

What about holding doors open for people. Is it so uncool to be polite to a stranger anymore? I find myself horrified when I notice that I let the door slam in someone’s face by accident. Holding the door open might not seem like a big deal until you have your hands full and might not be able to grab it on your own … or if you are helping someone who needs assistance walking and could use an extra hand to keep the door open. Many a time I seen women with a child in a stroller have to struggle to open doors until I can run over and help them. I used to see this when I worked at a supermarket. I always made a point to at least ask women who had kids or the elderly if they needed help out to their cars.

I heard of someone the other day who sneezed in his hands, did not wash them or use hand sanitizer afterward, then went for a plate of cookies. Okay, I get that people get colds, get sick, sneeze and cough. However, I do not get the people who decide not to wash their hands to halt their germs from spreading. Also, not washing your hands after using the bathroom? There are enough reasons to get creeped out by bodily fluids -- why add this on top of it? I don’t expect people to go OCD about germs and being clean, but I would like to know that people are doing the basics to at least keep themselves germ-free.

There are so many little things I get irritated by when people seem not hold up their end with good manners. I am not sure if I am being too old-fashioned, but is it too much to ask to have someone respond “hi” when they make eye contact with you and you say “hi”? I am sure the whole manners thing is changing with all this new technology. I have it automatically embedded in my head to reply to my manager’s e-mails at work when things get done. Oh, but the annoyance of when I do not get one back from someone else when I need help and it’s been done. How about when I send a text message saying I am going to call someone later, and I don’t receive a text back saying ok, I go into overload mode and resend the text about 3 times just as in case they didn’t get the first 3.

So, are our manners going the way of the dinosaurs and not being replaced by anything, or am I just being too old-fashioned?